628 The Arcana - Tomorrow is Yesterday (2016)

 628 The Arcana - Tomorrow is Yesterday (2016)

Studio Album - Mildly Psychedelic Rock


About the Act:

The Arcana are a band without a Wikipedia page, so finding information about them is a challenge. They are from London, released their first album in 2016, and have released three albums. They have a reputation for sounding different on different albums.

About the Album:

This was their first album.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

As I saw this coming up in my list I was intrigued. Who are The Arcana? What would they sound like? I knew absolutely nothing. As I listened on the way into work this morning my excitement about hearing something new faded somewhat.  I amused myself with making up some details based on what I was hearing. I decided that the band were from Derby, and that this was their fourth album, and that it was released in 1995. I was wrong on all four counts. The furthest out, I think, was that this was released 20 years later than I thought.

It sounds like a part of the Britpop movement, specifically that bit called something like "New Psychedelia". The sound is so 90s indie. Maybe this can suffice as a description of how they are musically. It's like acoustic guitar and drums and bass and tambourine and a gentle phasing effect. It sound like they are trying to sound like they are from the 60s.

You might be getting the feel for my opinion. I was not impressed. It lacked punch, the x-factor. The songs, I felt, had little to them except some chords and some words. The singer has all the charisma of a piece of lettuce, and struggles to actually hit the tunes at times. It sounds like some also-ran Britpop band, who would be a filler at a Britpop festival, or the support act for Kula Shaker or someone. I was, frankly, disappointed and bored. There is an interesting few seconds at the start of track 8, and track 12, the last track on the album, stands out for being considerably more interesting than the rest of the album. Otherwise, at best, dull.

5.5/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5ybHTglINNG5gLzU2rUkGn


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